Here’s a list of things I haven’t seen in a while…

• Fresh donuts of any variety…let’s make that ANY KIND of donuts of any variety.
• Morbidly obese people.  Let’s face it, there just aren’t fat people here in China.  This could be because of the donut thing mentioned in bullet point number 1.  I know the Chinese word for fat, however, (it’s pang!)  It’s a very useful word.
• Running water.  OK, it was only shutoff last night but if feels a lot longer.  It also smells a lot longer…personally speaking.
• A pizza delivery guy.  (You know that 90% of these are going to be food-related)
• Heavily forested areas.
• Blinking turn signals.  (And what would be the point really?)
• A TV commercial.  (I’m not complaining about this one…)
• A piece of junk mail.  (Also, no complaints here.)
• A person taller than me.  (This happens on occasion, but it’s been a while.)
• Functional cross-walks.  (Oh sure, you can find the white stripes, but if trust them with your life you’ll be dead pretty quickly.)
• An Outback Steakhouse.  (Ouch, that one really hurts to think about.)
• An ice-cold soft drink / beer (that didn’t come out of my own fridge…)
• A person ignoring my presence on the street as an act of being polite.
• A grande,2% Starbucks vanilla latte with a slice of fresh lemon pound cake on the side.  (Aaahhh…)